So many people who start a small business do it for all the wrong reasons, and primary among those reasons is doing it all for the money. Nothing is a faster route to misery than doing it strictly for money. Everything you do, everything you say, every interaction you have with other businesses will smack of your disregard for the things that truly matter, the things that make a business worth starting in the first place.

First of all, if you start a small business, it should be because whatever you’re doing or selling is your passion. It’s what lights you up, what brings you joy, what makes it worth getting up in the morning. If you don’t have the passion, you’ll never have the success.

Second, your primary motivator for doing what you’re doing should be to help someone else succeed. If you’re a web designer, you should want your designs to be so good that your clients have success beyond their wildest dreams. If you’re a baker and you make muffins to sell in supermarkets and bakeries, you should be inspired to make the greatest muffins ever conceived by man so that your clients make a killing.

The bottom line is that their success is your success. If you do what you do with heart and conviction, not only will you earn the respect and admiration of your peers and clients, but the money will come too.

And if you do end up with a successful business, keep one important fact in mind — when you started out, yours was a struggling business trying to get its feet underneath it. If you see a struggling business that you can help in some way, do so. It’ll come back to you a thousandfold.

Rees Marketing Resources is your one-stop provider of creative, innovative custom sales and marketing product packaging. From concept to production, Rees will work with you to create high-impact sales and marketing solutions. Rees Marketing Resources is located outside of Boston, but we work with companies all over the country. Contact us if you want your sales and marketing packaging to stand out!